Today I am reporting from cusco, peru. We have just returned from our three day trip to machu picchu and today we spend a relaxing day at the hostel. this post was again made with the help of the photos of lea and their records.
At seven o'clock in the morning we started preparing for our bus trip in the north. after a small breakfast the friend of the resident of selina took us to the bus station. lea went through the market again to buy fruit for me and ham and cheese for her. then we got on the bus and drove away from valpo.
after about 7-8 hours bus ride we reach la serena.
We bought some empanadas in a beach bar and went to the shore to watch the sunset.
When it got dark, we decided to go in the direction of the center, because the entire beach area is quiet and lifeless. The road on the way back was full of mud, which had been created by the rain of the last days. When we arrived at a huge puddle that we could not pass through dry shoes, we turned around. a car drove by and stopped and took us to the next street, the supermarket. where we bought some bread, tuna and cheese for dinner. at 21.30 o'clock our bus went to calama.
From time to time we woke up at night, either because something fell on the ground or because of the heat or the cold. Around eight o'clock we had our breakfast.
the only thing you can see through the window are desert and mountains. After about 14 hours bus ride we arrived in calama. I found a nice chilean on the couchsurfing app that could house us for one night. his name is francisco and his house is wonderful.
We showered in the house and later went shopping for dinner at the city market. We also hiked to the codelco office, the mining company that owns the largest copper mine in Chile to ask for a tour for the next day. unfortunately, however, was until the weekend to get anything, as there was a sandstorm, which led to the closure of the hikes in the mine.
I cooked a good vegetable rice curry. Lea booked her flights from Lima to Lanzarote at the end of the month. dani, a friend from berlin who knows lea too, will be coming from new york next week and we'll meet her in peru. That's why we will not stay in Bolivia for too long.
We talked a lot at dinner. francisco had delicious soup from his mother or grandma and we each ate a plate. It is a traditional Chilean recipe, delicious. francisco has studied marine engineering and was about two and a half years in the fleet of Chilean marine. also in submarines. He had pretty interesting stories to tell.
then I made chai tea with the spices we had bought at the valpo.
In the evening, a friend of francisco came by to look for him and we talked for a long time. When they left, we prepared the bed to sleep, there was even a small heater for us, because the nights are so cold here.
I woke up early and made myself a tee first then sat outside to read in my book. once again an absolute recommendation:
the cotton pickers, from traven.
We had breakfast for the second time with francisco at noon. He made sausages with eggs in the pan, which gave us life. Then we went hiking to a mountain nearby.
There he told us a lot about calama and his story. of wars and conquests. calama is 2,300 m above sea level.
These cabins are barely ten years old since they were built. We took a bus to the suburbs of Calama to get to the road that leads to San Pedro. We kept our fingers out there and a couple of minutes later we found a nice couple who brought us to San Pedro in his big Mercedes.
the sunset in the back, we drove about an hour to the desert city, they took us to the door of the hostel and told us everything about the area on the way. The man organizes astronomy tours, let's see if we maybe do one with him.
We cooked our dinner after shopping and we had the hostel in the reason for us. But it's amazing how touristy this city is. there are only stalls where they tour and sell souvenirs. We ate outside on the terrace of the hostel and then went to sleep.
We got up at eight in the morning to prepare for today's hike. we made avena with fruit and packed the leftovers from yesterday to eat at noon on the way. we are heading for the valley of death. it belongs to the indigenous community of catarpe.
We cross this Putama river (San Pedro river) with a small bridge. but apparently men from the other side called us with a megaphone. While trying to cross the river in a more northern area, lea slipped on a stone and sunk a whole shoe in the water.
We climbed the hills of Death Valley, which was impressive until we reached a tunnel that was connected to the other side. There we made the break for something to eat.
the most beautiful is the contrast of the desert with the green on the sides of the river and in the distance the snowy andes.
After the tunnel we went towards the petroglyphs that were at the end of a dried-up river, from here you could overlook the Valley of Patience and see the road from Calama to San Pedro.
in the end, the petroglyphs were not so interesting, but the wide view rewarded us for the 8 km extra.
on the way back to the tunnel we could see the hills, which looked like kneaded with their sediment layers and were covered by salt layers, then we climbed to the summit. The maximum altitude we reached was 2700m.
At the end we reached the impressive dunes which we then ran down. In the shoes we had more sand than feet. but it was the best of the hike.
we then went through the valley of the mars before we came back to san pedro. On the way to the hostel we bought vegetables for dinner and as an appetizer we ate a completo.
after the 26 km hike today we were looking forward to the shower and a little peace in the hostel. We wanted to stay another night, but it was already full for tomorrow. So we will move to the hostel next door. we cooked together with a couple, she is swedish and he comes from england, we talked a lot and they helped us a lot with a lot of information for our further journey because they do the same in reverse order. Crossing the border with the bus to Peru does not seem to be quite easy, as they have told us, so we are planning this spontaneously.
I slept for a long time while lea talked to the other people in the hostel outside. Here lives a dog with crazy eyes.
We were in the hostel until noon and we went shopping at one o'clock, I was looking for postcards and Iea needed a hat and gloves.
After shopping we went to a bar to watch the match between spain and portugal.
the czech ross from our room came to us for the second haft of the game and we watched the game together, on the way to the hostel we booked and paid the tour to uyuni for the three of us, which will bring us to bolivia in the end, but on another route, since the usual is snow-covered.
Lea negotiated with the boys in the hostel to see if we stayed another night in this hostel, but it was impossible. She then organized three beds in the hostel next door. We ate something to dinner, I took a shower and we packed our backpacks. i made another apple crumble and it got a bit stressful as roberto came to pick us up at nine o'clock and the astro tour started. it was great we have seen Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. stars and fog, as well as zodiac signs and some useful constellations. it was terribly cold, though. Then we went to our new hostel and slept four hours.
thanks for reading and see you soon when i report on the salt flats tour and our days in sucre.
love
Pauli
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